What To Do:

Invent and draw a Rube Goldberg-esque device, with an explanation.

What does that mean? Draw as complex a device as you can think of for a very simple task. The more complex the device or the funnier the device/task/situation, the better. For ideas, refer to the collection of Goldberg's cartoons on the official Rube Goldberg site.

The Prize:

One winner will receive a copy of Secret Lives of Great Artists: What Your Teachers Never Told You About Master Painters and Sculptors by Elizabeth Lunday.

With outrageous anecdotes about everyone from Leonardo (accused sodomist) to Caravaggio (convicted murderer) to Edward Hopper (alleged wife beater), Secret Lives of Great Artists is an art history lesson you'll never forget!

Elizabeth Lunday is a journalist specializing in architecture and art. She writes the "Masterpieces" column for mental_ floss magazine and lives in Fort Worth, Texas.

The winner will be announced on Saturday, January 24, 2009, at 12:30 p.m.

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Also on Mental Floss:

DID YOU KNOW? Marlon Brando hated memorizing lines so much that he posted cue cards everywhere to help him get through scenes.
He even asked for lines to be written on an actress's posterior. (That request was denied.)